Remember?

I watched this movie tonight. Classic.

The month of November always reminds me of the Edmund Fitzgerald, that freighter that got caught in a storm and sank in Lake Superior in 1975. I remember singing the Gordon Lightfoot song in elementary school around this time of year and thinking about how cool it would be to work on a freighter.

I know it's weird, but I've always been fascinated by freighters. My grandparents live on the St. Clair River, and ships from all over the world come right through their backyard, some so close that they shake the whole house. Whenever one passes, my grandmother hurries to the china cabinet to protect the rattling china while my grandfather leafs through his worn-out Great Lakes Freighter Handbook to inform us of all of the boat's age, home port, and capacity.

Once, my cousin and I went right up to a freighter on a wave runner. We were almost close enough to touch it and certainly close enough to get sucked into its massive undertow. I was amazed by its sheer size and quiet power, and I couldn't help but look up at the men bicycling from one end of the ship to the other and wondering where they'd been and what they'd seen. It seemed like such a raw, adventurous lifestyle; living day-to-day at Mother Nature's mercy, constantly moving and never knowing exactly where you were at any given point in time. Freighters intrigue me because they never stop to socialize. They just pass silently by. They've always given off this vibe of being dark, archaic and mysterious, and I like it.

PS- Word of the day: Daub.